Get Your Head In the Game
by Mistacul
Summary: Amy is the MVP of her high school softball game, but when she is unable to focus on an important game due to an issue in a relationship, she begins to doubt herself. Will she be able to snap out of it and be there for her team to lead them to victory, or will she let her mind get the best of her and bring her down?


**A/N: I'm new on here, and is the first story I've written, I hope you're I like it! I'm not really sure how to work this app so there might be some mistakes in the formatting, plus I have no idea how to use a line break so I'm just gonna say "time skip" because nothing else works and I saw someone else's story do that instead, it keeps editing out if I do a symbol. I've been working on a longer story with my OC, Lily, but I needed a break from it and decided to write this one-shot. Sorry if there's any mistakes I made in it that I didn't catch, I went over it twice so hopefully I caught everything! Let me know how I did!**

 _Friday, May 29th_

The gymnasium at Emerald High School was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was crowded on the bleachers, and some super-fans—who were mainly the best friends or boyfriends of the athletes—were holding up signs. When the band students started playing music, signaling the beginning of the pep rally, it quieted down. One by one, the players stepped into the middle of the gym. They were sporting their signature emerald-green and white jerseys with their team name "Cyclones" bolded across the front, matching green knee-high socks, and white softball pants with a green stripe on the sides of them. A very proud golden retriever wearing cyclone athletic apparel stood in front of the team with a microphone in her hand.

The school was relatively small, but the one person everyone knew was the pink hedgehog. One of the students leaned over to his friend sitting next to him and pointed to her, "that girl can _hit!"_

The music stopped playing, and the dog took a step towards the students.

"Hello! I am Sammy, and I'm the coach of Emerald High School's softball team. As you all know, these talented players have emerged victorious in their semi-finals game, and the are headed to the championships! It has been twenty-four years since our school has been to the softball championships, and if we take home the gold, we will make history as this school's first softball championship win!" She paused while the students cheered before continuing, "I can tell this team has a lot of potential, and they have worked very hard to achieve this. Our game will be tonight at 7 at the capital, Central City, so come support your very own team there—the Station Square Cyclones!"

 **Time skip**

Amy never gets nervous before a game. She stood in front of the mirror in the locker room, pulling her quills into a ponytail. Cream would braid it later on the bus ride, she decided. A game-day playlist that Rouge created was loudly playing from a wireless speaker, and everyone was getting pumped up. After this, whether it was a win or loss, the softball season would be over. Amy couldn't believe it. Nostalgia passed over her as she thought back to her first experiences with her passion.

As a child, she had a bad temper. Many vases and decorations broken by her hammer could vouch for that. Her parent's solution was to put her in a sport that would take her anger out on the ball: softball. She already swung a hammer around often enough, and it turned out that she was a natural swinging a bat. Amy fell in love with the sport, and spent hours practicing, dedicated to getting better. Freshman year, she was a varsity hitter, and by sophomore year, she was put in shortstop too. Now, all her hard work has payed off in junior year, and her team has made it to the championships!

The team's favorite song started playing, and Amy snapped back to the present. Everyone was loudly singing the lyrics word by word, elated. By the time their hands went up, they were yelling "and they stay there!"

Soon enough, Amy and her team left the locker room and joined the rest of the school for lunch in the cafeteria. After that, they would be off to the capital. Reminded that she wouldn't have to sit down for a whole day of school, Amy smiled in relief. She couldn't wait to be at the field. First though, in order for everything to be perfect, she had to make sure her boyfriend would be present at the game to support her.

"Ames, over here!" Sticks yelled from a table across the cafeteria.

"I'm coming!" She replied with equal excitement. Sticks was a sophomore, but thanks to softball, they quickly grew close during practices last year, and now, Amy couldn't ask for a better friend than her. She sat down at the circular table with the rest of the team. Usually she sat with other friends too: Cream, Sticks, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Silver, and Blaze, but today was different.

The table was filled with laughter as everyone discussed strange people from other teams they played against. Blaze's favorite was the pitcher who would grunt extremely loud as she released the ball, so loud to the point where Sticks struck out because she was laughing at the grunts so much. Amy's, however, was the annoying team who sang cheers every single moment they could, but no later than third inning, when Amy hit a home run and the Cyclones were already up 11 runs, they went silent and didn't utter a single cheer the rest of the game.

Halfway through lunch hour, Shadow walked up to her table. Amy completely forgot that she was supposed to talk with him. She mentally chided herself before getting up.

"Sorry guys, I'll be right back," Amy waved and hurried away. She knew they wouldn't mind when she saw the winks and kissy faces coming from them as she looked back. With a smile, she rolled her eyes. Shadow came to an abrupt halt around the corner of a hallway, causing Amy to run into him.

"Shadow! You can at least warn me when you're gonna do that!" She playfully said with mock-anger, wrapping her arms around him.

"'My bad."

Amy sighed, he knew it bothered her when he was so curt to her, even if he is just joking. She's never able to tell if he's being indifferent with her or not when he does that. Almost a year ago, the pink hedgehog persistently hung around him long enough to break down his cold demeanor and let her in. She always knew there was more to him than what everyone thought as only an independent and unfriendly loner.

"I'm sorry, Amy Rose," he started in a low voice.

Thinking it was just him apologizing for the short reply, she shook it off and quickly intervened. "Oh it's okay, no worries! Anyways, I was meaning to ask you, you _are_ coming to my game tonight right? I know you try your best to come to every one even though you're really busy with G.U.N assignments but this ones super important! Maybe you could even make me a sign this time!" Amy babbled. Although, when she saw the frown on Shadow's face, her smile faded.

"Hey, what's wrong? You don't have to make me a sign if you don't want to if that's what you're upset about, it's totally fine," Amy said. Maybe she said something that reminded him of his past. She always was the eye in the center of his storm, he told her once. It made her feel extra protective of him; he was so much more fragile deep down than others would assume.

The ebony hedgehog looked conflicted.

"No, I won't be coming to your game."

"What? Shadow, you know how much you being there means to me! How could anything be more important than this!"

"Excuse my vagueness," he closed his eyes and sighed, "what I mean is, I think it is best if I don't come to any more games."

"Shadow... what are you talking about?"

"I'm bringing you down, Amy Rose. It's best if you don't always have think that you need to care for me. As much as I love your company, I feel as though you are drifting from your friends. You deserve better."

He was right. Amy had been devoting all her free time to being with her boyfriend, but is that really a bad thing? He needs her, right?

"You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking!" Amy reached out for Shadow's hand, and he pulled it away.

"We're done, Amy Rose, I can handle my own problems, and you can become so much better without me."

"Shadow..." she said, holding back tears

"I'm sorry, Amy Rose," he repeated and walked away.

 _What horrible timing! Couldn't he have waited until after we won championships instead of completely killing my excitement!_

It all made sense now; Shadow's distance and coldness to her lately. For a week now too he has been doing this and Amy had been too ignorant to notice. Did she do something wrong? Maybe it was her fault... maybe if she had done something differently. And after all they've been through! Amy shook her head dejectedly. Completely alone, tears silently streamed down her cheeks. No, this isn't gonna bring her down. Not today. Out of all days, definitely not today. She'll save it for tomorrow. Wiping the tears away, she started to walk back only to bump into Sonic.

"Hey Ames, don't ya have a bus to catch soon?"

Amy tried to respond but just hiccuped and then sniffled, quickly wiping her eyes.

"You okay?" The blue hedgehog asked.

"Yeah, it's just that I'm upset about softball almost being over for the season," she lied.

"You think I'm gonna believe that? What really happened?"

Amy debated whether she should tell Sonic the full truth or just brush over the situation. She would tell him. After all, Sonic has always been there for Amy for as long as she could remember.

"Shadow dumped me."

Sonic stood there for a second, not sure know how to respond. He gave her a comforting hug while saying, "I'm so sorry, it'll be okay."

"Thanks Sonic," Amy said with a small smile and continued with a hopeful tone, "see you at the game?"

"You bet," he said with a grin and double-thumbs up.

With a smile and wave to Sonic, who lifted her mood a bit, Amy walked back to the lunch table, only to find it empty. Amy looked at the clock. 11:46. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. The bus leaves at 11:50. Thankfully, she had brought everything she would need with her to lunch. She grabbed her softball bag, and ran outside where the bus was waiting. Amy glanced at her phone. 11:49. Perfect timing.

The pink hedgehog stepping into the bus, greeted by her teammates,

"There you are!"

"Get your as—butt!— in here girl we need ya!" Amy knew that one was Rouge, and smiled at her attempt to conceal the swearing around Coach Sammy.

"At least you didn't pull a Lily!" That comment got a laugh out of her. Last year on a game day, Lily was suiting up for varsity, and she completely forgot about the game. Ten minutes after the bus was supposed to leave, the freshman wolf was running down the hall in tears, terrified that the bus left without her. Of course, we weren't gonna leave her behind, but Lily _never_ lost track of time again.

Cream patted her hand on the spot next to her. The two always made sure to save a spot for each other every time.

Rouge's head popped up from the seat behind them. "So, is your man gonna make an appearance at the game?" The bat asked as Amy sat down. She grimaced, reminded of the conversation they had.

"Actually, he made it clear that he doesn't care about me enough to come at all." She flatly stated. Showing annoyance, she decided, is better than being sad.

Both cream and Rouge were taken aback.

"What!" They exclaimed.

"Yep. He broke up with me."

Amy had to repeat herself when Sally, Sticks, and Blaze overheard Cream and Rouge's surprise, and soon the whole team was aware of what happened.

"That asshole. Of course he would do it today of all days," Rouge said with a menacing, fiery look in her eyes.

"I know, right! You know what? I don't need him, I just need my bat and a solid alibi!" Amy joked while everyone laughed.

 **Time skip**

The chattering died down after awhile, and they still weren't anywhere near Central City. Amy was sick of all the lies to her friends, and she wished she could tell them how she really felt, but she didn't want to distract the team from the gold. Instead, she looked out the window and reflected of all the great times her and Shadow had. Their first date at the apple orchard seemed like it was only a few weeks ago, when in reality, it was eight months ago. Her hanging on tight to shadows arm as he navigated the way through a haunted house with Sonic and Sally. Sonic and Sally were a thing at one point, and to everyone's dismay, they never officially started dating. Her and Shadows first kiss on a cold, snowy December night, in front of all the Christmas lights and decorations that just lit up at the park. Counting down to the new year with him, followed by a passionate kiss at midnight. Going sledding with him... Amy's eyes widen. He was right, she _had_ been spending almost all her time with him. She couldn't remember a girl's night out other than a couple team bonding meet-ups. All those times she could've been enjoying with her friends was wasted with someone who ended up only being temporary. Amy sighs; she needs to stop worrying over things that were in the past. It's not like it's gonna change.

 _Okay, Amy. From now on you are going to get in the game mentality and have fun with your teammates_ , she told herself.

The music grew more distinct as Amy let it distract her. Soon enough, everyone on the bus was dancing along to Rouge's fire mixtape again, hyped up. Somehow, the bus wasn't set on fire from those tunes.

 **Time skip**

Amy's phone buzzed.

 **MESSAGE FROM: Sonic**

 _"Ur #2, right?"_

The pink hedgehog looked down at the text, puzzled. She typed a response.

 _"Yep.. why do u ask?"_

Sonic replied quickly, _"no reason, me the guys were just discussing everyone's jersey #"_

Amy brushed off the random text.

 **Time skip**

After a stop at a restaurant and some more driving, the bus had finally arrived at Central City. Amy stepped off the bus and stretched, stiff from the long ride.

"Wow, just look at the field we get to play on," Cream said in amazement.

"It is quite impressive," Blaze replied.

Amy, and the rest of the team, agreed. It was huge! There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of seats that would be occupied by the audience during the game. Amy had never seen anything like this. Every place they've played at maybe had some bleachers for a small number of onlookers, but never the sheer volume that would be there tonight. The prospect of all those audience members seeing her play excited Amy.

The team grabbed their gloves and bats and went into the outfield to warm up. Amy tied the laces of her cleats and hustled out to the field

"Amy! Partners?" Rouge waved her over.

"Yeah!" She replied, running up to the white bat.

The ball was thrown over Rouges head a few too many times for Amy's liking throughout the duration of their game of catch.

"Sorry you have to deal with my crazy throws! I'm just feeling kind of out of it right now," she said.

"No problem girl, you're just getting the bad throws out of the way before the game starts."

Rouge was right, Amy hoped. She never gets this inaccurate. This is not the time to be messing up.

After everyone had their arms warmed up, the groups of two went up one at a time to get some batting in while the waiting groups shagged the hit balls. Blaze and Sticks went up first so Blaze could warm up pitching and Sticks could catch. Soon enough, Amy and Rouge took their turns tossing the ball to each other to hit. Although she had some decent hits, Amy still wasn't satisfied with her own abilities today.

 **Time skip**

Once everyone had gotten settled in the dugout after warm ups, the seats were already starting to fill up in the stands. The student section for fans of the Cyclones was packed, with the most popular upperclassmen—including Sonic, Silver, Knuckles, and Tails—getting possession of the front row. The whole section was filled with the team color, a deep-green. Likewise, their opponents, the Lightning, also had a large student section, filled with royal-blue-wearing fans. Coach Sammy paced in front of the team as they awaited the start of the game.

Standing by home plate was two announcers with microphones in their hands, and a camera recording them. Amy remembered that this will all be live-streamed and recorded. Coach Sammy and the Cyclones exited out of the dugout and stood in a numerical line from home plate to first. The opposing team did the same, home plate to third.

One of the announcer's enthusiastic voice boomed out of the stadium's speakers, "Hellllooo! And welcome to the annual high school championship game, where in seven innings, the two best teams will play against each other to reveal the best team in all of Mobius!"

The other announcer resumed, "you got that right, Steve. My, I gotta say, it is a wonderful day to play some softball! Over here, we have the returning champions— Chaos City Lightning," he paused while the crowd on their side of the stadium cheered and continued, "facing the Station Square Cyclones." Loud cheers echoed from their side. The Lightning's jerseys were a bright royal blue, with vertical flashes across them in an ombré to white, making the lightning strikes look realistic. They were matching blue high socks, and their softball pants were black with a blue stripe on the side. It was obvious that their school had better funding for girl's sports; everything they wore looked brand new. Plus, their school was way bigger than the Cyclone's.

The announcers then started introducing the lightning. They were a pretty big team of about fifteen girls, while the Cyclones only had eleven. Amy recalled that the reason the Chaos City Lightning was so good was because the majority of their team is seniors who were talented players right off the bat in freshman year. So many of the girls on the team won't really get much playing time until next year when the seniors will be graduated. As each girl was called up, they stepped forward and waved at the camera in front of them. After the applause for the Lightning, the camera man moved over to the Cyclones, stepping in front of Amy.

"Number Two: a junior and the team captain, Amy, playing shortstop."

Amy smiled and waved at the camera and stepped back in line with her team.

"Number four: a sophomore, Lily, in centerfield."

"Number seven: a senior, Rouge in left field"

Rouge blew a kiss to the camera, to no one's surprise.

"Number eight: a sophomore, Sticks, playing as catcher." Amy held back a laugh watching Sticks's reaction to the camera being on her. The badger was in a rigid, tense position with what could only be described as an attempt to smile on her face. Her eyes were wide open, the forced smile—more like simply her teeth being bared— not reaching her eyes.

"Number nine," the announcer looked up from the paper he was reading off and over at the lavender cat and started laughing, "say, was this planned? Blaze the CAT is number NINE?"

Blaze had a deadpan expression on her face, unamused, "I'm glad someone caught on."

"That sure is a good one, amirite Steve?" The announcer said, elbowing his partner, Steve, who responded, "sure is, Ralph." Unlike Ralph's overjoy at the joke he caught, Steve had a pained expression, making it seem like his joking was a daily occurrence.

Ralph started again, "The Cyclone's pitcher: number NINE... a junior, Blaze the CAT!"

"Number eleven: a junior playing first base— Sally"

Sally gave a sincere smile while waving both her hands.

The announcer droned on the rest of the names.

(Just for the information part of this the rest of the names will be added here.

Number thirteen, Cream the bunny, a freshman, at second base.

Number sixteen, Kate the tiger, freshman, suiting up

Number twenty-one, Emma the deer, a senior, at third base.

Number twenty-seven, Cassie, a senior, right field.))

Both teams walked back into their dugouts. As returning champions, Chaos City Lightning gets the home position, meaning they get the field first while the Cyclones bat first.

Coach Sammy addressed the team for one last pep talk, "Alright, girls. This is it. I expect full effort from each of you. I'm going to warn you right now, this will be tough. Storm has been in the championships for the past 3 years, and they've won once. Not very many teams even make it to championships in the first place. Don't underestimate them. This is gonna be a great game with some great competition. Now go and get what you've worked so hard for!"

The Cyclones put their hands in the middle of the circle they formed, fists closed. Sticks voiced boomed out, "OKAY GIRLS, CYCLONES ON THREE!"

Sticks changed the numbers in a loud, low voice, and everyone joined in at a yell when they said their team name.

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three,"

"CYCLONES!"

Everyone began excitedly encouraging the team.

"We got this you guys!" Cream cheerfully said.

"hit the heck out of the ball!"

"We're gonna make the ride back home for them a looong and sad one," Blaze said, pounding a fist into her other hand.

"LET'S JUST CRUSH THEM SUCKERS!" Sticks yelled, a bit too loud.

"Shhhhh! They're gonna hear you and that's not good sportsmanship!" Rouge shushed Sticks and continued, "... not that _I_ care...but the other team and their fans might."

"Let's crush them!" Sticks repeated in a whisper, arms in a fighting stance in front of her.

"That's better, and damn right we will," Rouge and the others laughed.

Amy grabbed her helmet and put it on. She's third up in the lineup, which means she's in the hole. Lily, the teams speedy slap hitter, would be hitting first; a guaranteed base for the Cyclones. Next up will be Blaze, she's not the most powerful hitter, but as long as she makes contact with the ball her speed can get her on base.

She timed the pitches coming from the Lightning's pitcher, a lean and muscular lion.

"Balls in, coming down!" The opposing team's catcher yelled, signaling the beginning of the game. Amy watched the catchers throw down to second base, noting the speed. She decided that it would be a bad idea to try to steal on her. Amy wasn't one of the fastest players on the team, but her power and strength made up for it.

"Batter up!"

Lily, a lefty, stepped up to the plate. Coach Sammy gave her the slap sign, causing her to subsequently back up in the batter's box. As the ball was released from the pitchers hand, Lily closed the distance between her and the ball with some fancy footwork. The crack of the bat was heard and the ball sailed in a line-drive over the pitchers head, dropping right behind second base. It was crazy to Amy how she could nimbly hit the ball while her legs were in motion, and it was cool to watch. There was no point in the center fielder throwing the ball to first, because Lily was already standing on it, cockily grinning. The wolf loved how slapping always frustrated the opposing team, and she reveled in her small victories. There was no doubt Coach Sammy would have her steal.

Blaze was up to bat now, and Amy stepped onto the dirt, practicing her swings. Mid-swing, she couldn't help but think of Shadow. Was he watching her? Maybe he did show up and he'll apologize to her, tell her it was all a mistake. Amy squeezed her eyes shut; she wasn't going to let a boy throw her focus off. The familiar sound of a bat hitting a ball snapped Amy back into the game. Foul ball.

"You got this Blaze!" Amy cheered.

Blaze hit the ball again, but because she was swinging behind the ball late, it went to the first baseman. Even with her speed, she couldn't outrun the ball and got out. Lily rounded second, but wasn't going to risk going to three.

Amy stepped up to the plate.

 _This is it. No mistakes._

She could hear her teammates cheering her on in the distance. Once she focused on the pitcher winding up, the yells tuned out.

The ball was flying towards her.

 _Oh, I have to swing!_

 _"stee-rike!"_

 _What? I can't believe I just stared at the ball like that! That was a perfect pitch!_

"Focus, Amy! Be ready!" Coach Sammy barked.

 _Ok, I can do this. I know I can Just gotta focus._

The ball was coming in again. Amy swung with as much force as she could, only to realize it was a wild pitch. The ball was too high to even be possible to hit! That was so embarrassing! It flew over the catchers head and Lily stole third.

The pitcher started her windup again.

Amy's eyes narrowed. She wasn't gonna give up. There were two strikes on her, she has to protect the plate. She swung. The ball flew extremely high into the air. A pop-up. Amy rounded first base, only to see the ball fall down into the left fielders glove, an easy catch.

"Out!"

Lily tagged up and made it home. At least her hit had got a run in.

Amy jogged back into the dugout, tossing her helmet onto her bag.

"Way to get a hit Ames," Cream stayed positive.

"You're dipping your bat so you're hitting the ball underneath it, that's why it popped up so high. Try to keep a level swing next time," Rouge advised.

 **Time skip**

It was the bottom of third inning, and the score was tied 1-1. The Lighting got a run because one of their players hit it out of the park; a home run. There's nothing much that can be done to prevent a home run. There was two outs in this inning; both thanks to Blaze striking out the batter, but two players were still on second and third.

Amy was trying her hardest to focus on the game, but everything seemed to remind her of Shadow. She couldn't bring herself to look up at the student section yet; the one person who she really wanted to see wouldn't be there, so why bother?

A grounder was coming straight for Amy, and right as the got ready to scoop the ball into her glove, it took a bad hop in the dirt and went right past her, brushing her leg. She turned around, looking for the ball. By the time she picked it up and looked to throw to first, the player already was on base. Two runs had scored on Amy's error, making the score 1-3. Amy released a frustrated sigh. She needed to concentrate; one mistake can decide the winner and loser of the game. If she could've gotten that out, they could be batting right now.

Another ball was hit way above everyone's heads to center field. The Cyclones and their fans anxiously watched Lily run for the ball, only to see her ankle twist in a unnatural position. She let a cry of pain out, and to everyone's surprise, she tried to limp to where the ball landed and get it in to the pitcher. After all, the play was still live. Luckily, Rouge was already sprinting there for backup and threw the ball in before the player was able to make it home.

Again, Amy became more disappointed in herself. Now because of her mistake, someone got hurt! That would've never happened if she just got the third out in the last play. Lily was brought into the dugout, and Kate ran out to replace her.

The next batter bunted, and Sticks hurried out to grab the ball and throw it down to first before she could get there. Three outs.

Amy arrived into the dugout to see the injured wolf venting her fears to the teammates near her. "What if my ankle doesn't heal? What if I'll never be able to run as fast as I used to again! I don't know what I'll do if I can't run! I'll be useless!" She cried. Amy felt even more guilty. She really needed to start being there for the team. She hasn't had one good hit yet, and it was starting to bring her down.

 **Time skip**

It was top of sixth inning, and the score was still 1-3. The Cyclones were hitting, but the ball kept going straight into the players gloves and they'd get out. They all knew there wasn't much time left to make a comeback. It was now or never. The team was lined up at edge of the dugout, gripping the fence tightly while they encouraged their batting teammates with intense yet serious tones. Amy knew she had to start contributing something actually good for a change, and soon, but she just couldn't get her head in the game.

Rouge had a great hit that inning with two outs; it went in between the right fielder and the center fielder. Sally and Sticks scored on the hit, tying it up. 3-3.

After that, Cream was up to bat. She had a hit, but unfortunately, it went straight to the third baseman, who quickly threw it to first before Cream was safe. Three outs.

Coach Sammy and the Cyclones were full of grim determination.

"If you want to stay in this game, you gotta hold them. Right here ladies, show them what you've got," the coach encouraged. With slight nods, they grabbed their gloves and hustled to their positions.

Right away, Blaze struck out the first batter. Anyone could agree that the lavender cat was a hell of a talented pitcher. However, the next batter hit a line drive right in between Cream and Sally, and even with them diving for it, the ball was too far away. It fell right before Cassie could catch it, and just like that, a runner was on first. The next pitch, Sticks dropped the ball after she caught it, giving the player on first enough time to quickly steal.

Two runs later, the Cyclones were losing and they still needed one more out for the inning to be over.

As a ball was hit high and far into the air, it seemed as though the entire half of the stadium consisting of the Cyclones fans held their breath, while the other half was hollering in excitement. Rouge was sprinting farther and farther back while the ball got closer to the ground. It all seemed like it was in slow-motion. Rouge dived forwards to the ball, and the ball barely slid into it right before it touched the ground. The white bat speedily put her hand over the glove to prevent the ball from bouncing out.

She jumped up, the ball in her glove, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Out!"

The Cyclones ran to the dugout, congratulating Rouge on her fantastic catch.

It was the seventh inning, which meant that this was the last chance they could make a comeback. 3-5. Three runs to win.

Rouge and Cream were on base. Kate, who had to bat for Lily, struck out. That made it two outs. No room for failure. Amy practiced her swings while Blaze went up to bat.

 _I guess it can't hurt to take a look at the student section..._

Amy's eyes widened in surprise. They did that for her?

Seeing that they finally caught her attention so late in the game, Sonic and his friends stood up, waving their signs in the front row.

Why hadn't any of her teammates told her about this?

In bold letters, Sonic held up a sign saying "#2 will score on YOU!" In the top corner of the sign was a flaming softball.

Amy stood in awe at all the creative signs for her and her teammates, and she felt a smile growing on her face. Silver was using his telekinetic abilities to hold up two huge posters in the air, one with flames saying "BLAZE IS SURE TO AMAZE!" while the other was more romantic with hearts all around it, "#9 is mine!". Literally the definition of extra. Amy let out a laugh. Why make one sign when you can make two?

Amy noticed another one held by Tails. It was a pun, of course. It said, "#13 will CREAM the Lightning!"

Everyone on the team had at least one sign made for them. So that was what Sonic was planning when he texted her, Amy realized.

All along, right under her nose, people who cared about her have been supporting her this whole time.

She took some practice swings with a newfound happiness. She will not let them down.

Blaze got a single. The bases were loaded. The pink hedgehog stepped into the batter's box, a sly grin forming on her face. She knew she had the power within her. Amy's eyes narrowed as she positioned herself, bat slightly moving in the air, ready to swing. Breathe in. Breathe out. The pitch was coming in fast. Amy swung, only to hit air.

"strike one!"

 _That's okay, I know I can do this._

Amy wasn't going to get nervous. Amy never gets nervous. The pressure made her feel more alive, more determined.

She watched the ball in. It was a bit too high and inside for her liking.

"Ball!"

Amy grinned. This pitcher wasn't going to get her easily this time. She took in the sound of her name being cheered.

The ball came in again, this time low and inside.

"Two ball, one strike!"

Amy focused in on the ball being released from the pitchers hand.

 _This one's the one._

She swung. At the sound of the bat hitting the ball, Amy ran. The ball sailed into the air. Sprinting. Once Amy rounded first, she glanced around for the whereabouts of the ball. There it was. Falling right near the fence, she kept her eye on it as she ran. The outfielder tried to reach her hand up over the fence to catch it.

The ball grazed her glove and fell out of her reach on the other side of the fence.

The crowd was going wild.

Amy had hit a grand slam.

She could hardly believe it. All her teammates were crowded behind home plate. As Amy stepped on home, she was engulfed in a huge, elated group hug. The score was 7-5. The Cyclones were winning.

 **Time skip**

The seventh inning was fateful for the Chaos City Storm. Their attempt to make a comeback was in vain, and their hopes of winning was short-lived. As for the Cyclones, they finally were playing at their full potential. At one out, Amy redeemed herself in the field with a successful dive for a grounder, and she threw it to second to get the lead runner out. Cream then threw it to first, getting another out. The double play shut the Lightning down. The Station Square Cyclones had won the Championships 7-6.

The golden softball trophy was placed into Amy's hands, and she held it up while while her and her teammates jumped around in pure joy. They made history for their school.

The fans all sprinted down to the field, swarming the players, while the photographers documented it all.

Eventually, all the team pictures and candids had been taken, and the large crowd somewhat dissipated. After searching for a certain someone, Amy finally caught sight of the hedgehog. At the beginning of this day, Amy would've thought it would've been a different one. But now, she wouldn't want it any other way as she ran up to the blue hedgehog.

"Sonic!" She yelled in happiness.

"Ames! That was an amazing hit, great job!" He replied, matching her tone of excitement.

"It was all thanks to you, I can't believe you made me a sign! Thank you so much!"

"Hey, anything for a friend!"

Amy's smile grew bigger as Sonic pulled her into a hug. Being single wasn't all that bad to her anymore; a new hedgehog had grabbed her attention. At the same time, maybe all she needed was her friends. She didn't need a guy, but hey, Sonic would be an exception if it came to that.

Blaze, Silver, Knuckles, And Tails came over to where Sonic and Amy were talking.

"Hey guys, I liked the signs you made!" Amy greeted them.

"Yeah, too bad you didn't look earlier in the game, we painted your name onto our stomachs," Knuckles said with a shrug.

Amy doubled over in laughter seeing the remnants of an 'A' on Knuckle's stomach, a 'M' on Tail's, and a 'Y' on Sonic's. They must've given up on trying to scrub the paint off.

The pink hedgehog's had the type of laugh that was contagious; soon, everyone in their group was laughing, earning strange looks from others nearby.

After the uncontrollable laughter subsided, they decided they needed pictures together. Blaze posed next to Silver in a perfect instagram-worthy picture, with the posters he made floating above them again. During their photo shoot, Silver leaned over and kissed Blaze, catching her by surprise. Scratch the last picture, this one would definitely be the one that would be instagrammed. Once they were done with the pictures, Amy handed the phone back to them so they could take a look at the pictures.

Cream and Tails took some pictures with the sign he made for her, and then everyone got together for a group photo.

"Sonic, I want a picture with us two and the poster you made for me!" Amy said. Sonic agreed.

They took one picture together with Amy holding the trophy and sonic holding the poster and pointing at her with an open-mouth, excited smile.

In another one, they held the poster in front of them together with one hand while Sonic put his free hand around Amy's shoulder. Amy genuinely smiled as big as she could; today turned out so much better than she'd ever imagined.

The camera clicked, capturing the moment forever.


End file.
